Saturday, October 30, 2010

Late last night, after I was admiring my handiwork and gloating a bit, because those spiral chains give me grief and they were all tatted and complete, I noticed something was amiss with one of the plastic rings.

It was broken!

You can guess which dragon it was that would be causing such a ruckus, waving her PINK head about and letting me know that the plastic in her ring had snapped!

Ah, smart little dragon - though headstrong and marching to her own fireball - she alerted me to the problem before I had packed all away to be wrapped up later, when I never would have noticed the flawed ring.

We had a discussion, the dragon and I:

- Nobody knows, I said.

-You do, she said.

-I don't think it will ever be discovered, so why should I tat another tail, if the chances are slight that it will ever become a problem? I said.

- You know who I am going to, and SHE would be beyond insulted if she saw that hers is the one with the big, hidden, mistake, that you did not even bother to fix!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Yessiree! I am very happy so far with the results I have for the fourth of the dragon set, the one for Gray.

Some of you have asked about the reactions of the kids. Well, they know NOTHING about this dragon business; they will each be given their dragon namesake in December, when the New York brood will be visiting in Toronto. Till then, the dragons remain in their den, avec mama!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

With help from Miranda, I was finally able to get this tatted. The thread and the pattern are both Karey's. Though the "mirror" tatting of the other side drove me almost crazy, I like this pattern and will definitely tat it again.

I was pleasantly surprised to reach the part in the pattern I had not seen at first glance, where the instructions tell you to roll tat! Yah!! Look at tips... there it is!

I have scanned the pattern and will mark the stitch counts on the diagram. That will make things much easier the second time around. Should have done that in the first instance, but of course, was so intent on immediately tatting that I put the thought aside. Foolish me!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Yes, this one is a SHE, and she is for The Boss. Perhaps that is why I have had to cut off the head about five times and the wings are giving me grief as well.

In my enormous beadery, I can find not one appropriate colour for this tempermental dragon's wing.

Much like The Boss, herself, this wee beastie has a mind of her own and is determined to get her own way, at all costs!

- Try this pretty pink one, I say.

- No she bellows, I want green!

- But green is really not going to do the trick, I say.

- I don't care! Try the orange sparkle, NOW!

- I am sorry, but I just cannot do orange sparkle; how about lilac?

- Lilac is for sissies, she hisses. Tat my ear. PICK UP YOUR SHUTTLE!

And so it goes. This is a most difficult dragon.

Funny, how life imitates art. I am finding that as I tat the dragons, one for each child, I think of whom I am tatting it for throughout the process, and some magical transfer must happen, because the blue one IS like Liam, and it felt like his personality as I tatted him up. Grahamy, his brother, an entirely different personality, showed up quite obviously in the finished Green dragon that I just posted.

Just as tatting Grahamy the Green felt different than tatting Liam the Blue, choosing the colour of the beads produced an entirely different emotional response. I feel as if I am tatting the different personalities into these dragons that depends on the little soul that I am thinking about!

The Boss, as you might well have guessed by now, is a feisty little miss. She and I lock horns more than I do with any of the others. Perhaps it is because she is most like me in personality - headstrong and determined. Curious. Marches to her own drummer.

That is why, I suppose this dragon breathes fire before I have even tatted her head! I hope she does not breath fire on my hook!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Love this pattern by Samantha Melnychuk. I had envisioned it in this thread, as I took a little break after the Liam Dragon, and I am happy with the result. The thread? Krystle's wonderful Watermelon experiment.

Now, sufficiently rested, I begin Dragon #2:

Thanks to Jane's instructions that I saved somewhere, I was able to do that little bead at the end of the tail! Thanks Jane!

Yesterday, I happened upon these beautiful mainly purple and deep blue beads, thinking they would be perfect with that Coron blue and the Lizbeth purple. My camera did not catch the colour or the lush saturation. The match is very good.

Unfortunately, the match is also perfect for the haematoma on my forehead!

Guess who walked into a window yesterday! Sheesh - after the incident a few days ago and now this, I feel like the clumsiest person on the planet. Plus, I now look like a Cyclops!

Never mind. I will go sit in a chair and tat that green dragon. How much trouble can that get me into?

Friday, October 15, 2010

Diane graciously sent me some samples of Sulky thread to try, and I do appreciate her kind gesture.

However, I must report that this thread is very, very fine! I do not know what I will do with the silk thread that Snowy sent me, (about #100) since it took me so many hours to tat the Sulky!

Today:

This is the beginning - blue and yellow - very pretty. I decided to do a little motif that happened to have a bunch of mock rings... Bad idea. There is zero tolerance with Sulky for mistakes.

The upside? Working with these colours created a design frenzy. I pulled out threads and beads, putting together everything I need for the next dragon.

Then, I picked another design for the Sulky and tried again:

This worked a lot better but I messed up a few more times, used a bunch of thread and then... a fatal flaw. It is sheer misery to un-tat this stuff! My hands felt like oversized hams!

This time, I promised myself I would not rush; there was no race; I would relax and enjoy the process. Chose this absolutely beautiful sample:

You cannot tell by the photo, but this is magnificent thread - perhaps the nicest, richest colours I have seen in all my tatting experience! Really! It is shiny and metallic copper and brown, rust and gold - just wonderful.

#14 Motif Challenge

I found that by changing from the bobbin shuttle to the post for the skinny thread helped a lot. Still, I found I could not control the size of the picots, the tension and the gaps in the thread consistently. Also, this pattern ends in a way that precipitated my usual dyslexic meltdown. Not pretty. But, the motif is done and I love it! Thanks, Diane, for the opportunity to try this beautiful thread.

I have more Sulky, but will put it away for a while as I am excited to begin the next dragon for Graham:

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I have no castles, armies of knights or crowns of jewels, but I can leave them DRAGONS, one to be named after each grandchild, tatted in colours that are favoured by the wee one. With gratitude to Ann Beuvold and Deb Arnold for the pattern and the imagination, and to my friend, Suneeti, for the fantastic blue Coron thread.

I present the eldest:

Liam The Blue

#13 Motif Challenge

I am gong to tat the five of them and give them to the kids when we are all together in December. Fun or what!

Next, the hats are finished.

Those dragonflies meandering across the crowns are designed by umintsuru,

to be in the post tomorrow for Mini Boss Maeve's brothers in New York. It is getting chilly!

Now: new thread, compliments of Diane, who sent me
samples in order to try the skinny stuff that is so pretty. Thanks Diane!
I already have the shuttles loaded...

This photo is here because I love the motif and am going to use that thread
for an old pattern I have done before, but think it will look great in
these colours...stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Couldn't stand the bandage; it got in the way! Thank you for all the kind messages about my... mishap. Too nauseating to explain. I hope not to repeat that misadventure again any time soon. Enough said.

#11 Motif Challenge

This ls Tammy Rogers's Maple Leaf in the two variegated threads.

I love how it turned out. This was a real lesson in experimenting with colour.

#12 Motif Challenge

Saw this little motif on Isdihara's blog, and although she was fit to be tied with her tatting, I found this to be an enchanting pattern and so had to tat it with thread left on the shuttles. Thanks, Isdihara!

Can you guess? I am tatting this with the Coron thread that Suneeti sent me - it is a fabulous blue; a gorgeous, deep, saturated blue and a silky texture. It is a bit thicker than anything I usually use, but is suitable for the pattern... : )